written in the sand
by ncfan
Summary: It all comes back to the wind, the sun and the sand. 100 Sand Sibling drabbles and oneshots.
1. written in the sand

**Characters**: Temari, Kankuro, Gaara**  
A/N**: Here is the first chapter. Characters other than the Sand Siblings will appear occasionally, but they will never be POV characters (at least not for the whole drabble) and Gaara, Temari and Kankuro will be most predominant throughout.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

It all comes back to the wind, who sweeps her enemies away. She is possessed of savage beauty and a cruel smile, and with one negligent gesture of the hand summons storms of wind to depopulate armies.

It all comes back to the sun, who blinds his enemies. He attacks when they aren't looking at him, his rays dripping poison to bind their limbs and paralyze their minds before going in for the kill.

It all comes back to the sand, who simply buries his opponents and crushes them. No questions are asked, and no mercy is extended.

The desert's three children know how to kill. It's written in the sand.


	2. More Talkative Than I Remember

**Characters**: Gaara, Yondaime Kazekage**  
A/N**: Spoilers ahoy; for 525-526 in particular. This is a little strange, I know, but what I've noticed is that the ninja in _Naruto_ have the tendency to talk about the strangest things while they're fighting or getting ready to fight.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"You know, when Chiyo first met you she was convinced you were a mute."

Gaara can only stare blankly at him. The Yondaime is gazing upon him in a bemused way, an expression there that might have been a smile if his face wasn't in its usual hard-as-stone setting.

The Yondaime folds his arms across his chest and stares at him speculatively. "If you don't recall, Gaara, you were six years old and when she said 'Hello' to you not a word came from your lips. It was hardly unusual for you not to say 'Hello', but you didn't say anything _else_ either and at some point you just wandered off and didn't show back up until the next day."

"Why are you telling me this?" No longer can Gaara just stare silently and let him talk. "This isn't appropriate pre-combat talk."

The Yondaime only shrugs. "No, it's not. I just wanted to point out that you're more talkative than I remember."


	3. Sour With Cowardice

**Characters**: Gaara, Dosu, Temari**  
A/N**: Eh, I just wanted to write this. You know the drill, read, review, and request if you like.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Gaara licks the blood from his fingers with an agonizing slowness, feeling the tide of the full moon clench at his veins and whisper desperately in his ear _"Destroy all that which is in your path"._

_No, not yet_. There will be time for that later, and it will not be now.

The Sound nin was an imbecile. The Sound nin was asking for it when he confronted Gaara on the roof, wanting to kill him so that he would have no obstacle between him and the Uchiha. And when people ask for that certain thing, Gaara is always more than happy to give it to them.

This of course has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that earlier in the day Dosu saw fit to threaten Temari with bodily harm and possibly rape as well when she objected to his interference in surveillance on the Leaf. Temari for her part wasn't even remotely cowed by this threat but only countered with a harsh "Like I haven't heard that before".

She was never afraid. Gaara can sense fear, hear it in the faltering pulses and smell it in sweat, and Temari never saw this one as a threat.

And of course Dosu's threats against Temari have nothing to do with why he's dead now. Though Gaara registers dimly that he and his siblings are of the same blood, he hasn't consciously thought of them as his siblings in years (He's quite sure the favor is returned).

Dosu is dead because he was foolish enough to think he could _threaten _him.

Temari has nothing to do with it.

Gaara does remember those fruitless threats though, as he tastes the Sound nin's blood, and finds it sour with cowardice.


	4. The Only One Who Thinks

**Characters**: Kankuro, Temari, Gaara, Yondaime Kazekage**  
A/N**: Heavier tone than the rest so far.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Kankuro's sure that he's the only one who ever thinks about their father after he's gone.

That man…

The heat was always on Kankuro as the oldest son to live up to the Kazekage's exacting standards. Kankuro always tried not to care but his father's disappointment and the fact that he made no attempt to hide it still stung, dug under his skin like a scorpion's sting.

As much as he tried not to care, the Yondaime's disapproval stung and especially so since Kankuro was the one, out of his children, whom the late Kazekage paid the least attention to.

Temari was his favorite. Kankuro knew that this had nothing to do with her being the only girl—his old man had wanted sons and if Temari's only virtue was her ovaries there was a highly likelihood that the Kazekage would have barely even registered her existence. No, instead, Temari was everything the Kazekage could wish for in a child—strong, alert, politically and diplomatically savvy, and utterly brutal. Everything he could wish for, except that she was a girl.

_Everyone_ had to pay closer attention to Gaara (They still do, even if he's more subdued than usual). Gaara was—is—dangerous and he could—can—kill anyone in an instant without leaving behind any remains. The Kazekage had to pay more attention to Gaara, had to train him and control him as best he could; otherwise, all of Suna could—would—have collapsed.

Kankuro still feels the sting from beyond the grave and the abyss. Somewhere, even now, his father is disappointed in him, disapproving of him and his devotion to his puppets over taijutsu and Wind jutsus.

Kankuro sinks back into his bed, closes the filigreed wood shutters over the window, and grits his teeth, trying not to think of his father.

-0-

Temari is certain that she's the only one who ever thinks about their father after he's been laid to rest.

Alone out of all of her siblings, Temari can remember their mother. Memories of Karura are vague and hazy like a mirage or a fever dream, but she can remember.

She wonders still what it was that drove her father to sacrifice her mother's life.

Surely Karura wasn't the only woman in Sunagakure who was pregnant at the time that the sealing of the Shukaku into a new host was suggested. The Kazekage could have picked any one of them, so why did his eyes turn on his wife?

It's impossible not to wonder at the man who deprived himself of his wife and ultimately of his children as well out of his own ruthlessness—_because that was the cost for a strong village, when his children no longer look at him and see anything but the hat and the sword clenched in his hand._

Irony of ironies that the child who was her father's favorite hates him more than either of her brothers.

-0-

Gaara knows that he is the only one who ever thinks about their father after he's dead and rotten.

Confusion reigns supreme in the youngest child of the Yondaime Kazekage's thoughts on his father.

He sought to use him, to destroy him, to crush his skin and his bones and build him back up in the image that he thought he should be. Gaara knew that if the Kazekage had had his way, he would just be a pawn, a chess piece held in reserve, something without life or spirit.

The Kazekage did nothing for him. Not anything but mattered.

Did nothing but die, and give him his family back with his death.

Is he supposed to be _grateful_ for that?

Gaara really doesn't know.


	5. No More Late Night Strolls

**Characters**: Temari, Gaara, Yondaime Kazekage  
**A/N**: I wonder if something like this ever really happened.  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Sometimes, in the nights when the moon has waxed as far as it's capable of and it shines through the windows—wide and low unlike the narrow windows found near the ceilings of most Suna dwellings—of the Kazekage's compound, Temari can't help but hear Gaara scream.

Tonight is one such night.

Temari wakes up to the smell of her own cold sweat and the sound of the wind battering against her shutters—wait. That's not wind.

Her heart begins to pound in earnest.

High-pitched, keening and less human than anything the seven-year-old Temari has ever heard, the sound somehow pierces the thick walls between Temari's room and Gaara's, to reach right into her soul and squeeze it with a cold hand. It's chilling.

But it also sounds as if Gaara's in pain. Temari knows the plaintive note in that voice—it's the same note that comes into Kankuro's voice when he skins his knee or one of his snake puppets breaks.

He's in pain. And Temari can hear it.

Her feet hit the cold, smooth stone of her room in silence, muffled by Temari's rudimentary stealth training. She creeps out into the hall, and down the two doors needed to reach Gaara's room.

"Gaara?" Temari has her hand braced on the door. "Gaara?" Despite knowing just how stupid it is to open Gaara's door on the night of the full moon, she presses it open slowly, peering inside with huge eyes.

For a moment, there is nothing but silence and darkness. No answer greets Temari's small voice.

Then…

Temari shrieks as a whip of sand emerges, lightning-fast from the room and just barely misses her as she staggers back. She screams again as she knocks into something that is definitely _not_ the wall, something with flesh and clothing. A long, leanly muscled arm curls around Temari's collarbone.

"Temari." She looks up, her heartbeat in her throat and her eyes huge in her face, when she recognizes her father's smooth, unruffled voice. The Kazekage's calm dark eyes meet her own shaken green ones. "Go back to your room. Do not open the door. Do not stir from there until the sun has risen." He draws his arm back to himself. "Do you understand?"

The young girl sketches a hasty bow, managing, "Hai, Otousama," before retreating back to her room.

Rabid screams echo on through the walls throughout the night. When the day wakes, Gaara is the same as ever—sleep-deprived, straddling the line of madness and withdrawn to the extent that he sees no one though his eyes are open. Yashamaru fusses over him with the same almost maternal qualities that he always exhibits. The Kazekage moves stiffly, as though sore. His sleeve falls back a little and Temari can see the telltale marks of sand scouring on his arm.

She shivers. There will be no more late night strolls during the full moon.


	6. Sleeping Together

**Characters**: Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Baki**  
A/N**: Can you imagine? Also, I'm using characters other than the Sand Siblings more than I thought I would.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

After the Shukaku is out sleep is back in, even though Gaara is still an insomniac of the worst kind and supernaturally endowed with the ability to run around awake without getting tired for days on end. For the most part, he absolutely does not see the need for sleep—he can get much more done in the time when most are sleeping and as a result isn't nearly as swamped down in paperwork as all of the other kages.

However, now is not one of those times, for either Gaara of his siblings. For right now, sleeping feels really, _really_ good, even with his clothes still on and Temari and Kankuro are immensely glad that, for some reason, the Kazekage's bed is obscenely huge.

It's been a long day, and they're all tired. The three siblings are perched on the bed, Gaara and Kankuro playing shogi (they were _so_ going to one-up the Nara the next time they saw him), and Temari spectating, refereeing and commentating. All is good until Gaara yawns and Kankuro and Temari exchange knowing glances. They were starting to wonder how long this would take. Without asking for Kankuro's permission Gaara puts up the shogi board and collapses unceremoniously backwards on the bed.

Now, Temari and Kankuro are determined that Gaara will sleep, and that involves making _sure_ that he sleeps. Leaving the room is not an option. The bed is nice and big anyway.

-0-

Baki finds them the next morning. He takes one look at Gaara actually _asleep_ and knows precisely what he's going to say to the councilors gathered for the morning session.

"_The Kazekage is currently indisposed. You're just going to have to wait for a couple of hours."_


	7. weaker than he thought

**Characters**: Kankuro, Gaara, Sasori  
**A/N**: You know the drill.  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

There's something hot and burning pushing its way through his blood, tearing his veins apart and making the tissue into melting wax. Kankuro feels the flames lick his skin and he knows it has nothing to do with the unforgiving desert sun.

_Gaara…_

Kankuro will never know if he's managed to make his cracked mouth and his swollen tongue move or if he says his brother's name only in his mind, but either way Gaara can't hear him. No one can hear him now except the buzzards and the lone desert jackal.

This has been the day for an old legend long-thought lost to the desert sands to come out of the ether and be reborn. Kankuro had heard so many stories about Akasuna no Sasori (indeed, his grandmother had been Kankuro's master in the art of puppetry) but none had measured up to the reality of him and his ability to kill.

Kankuro thought he was strong. Kankuro thought he could kill any obstacle between him and his brother. But when Sasori swept strings, he was shown to be as weak as a novice with half-attached chakra strings. Now, instead of strength there is only weakness; not enough strength left in his poison-riddled body to even lift his head from the burning sand.

_Gaara…_

_I'm sorry…_

Akasuna no Sasori has taken both their lives into his possession.

_Just hold out until more come…_

And Sasori's never given back that which he took.


	8. Saboteurs

**Characters**: ShikaTema, Kankuro, Gaara**  
A/N**: I love this idea.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

There are two reasons Temari, for all that she's an attractive and desirable girl, has such a hard time getting a date and their names are Gaara and Kankuro.

In the past, the two worked independently in their own ways. Kankuro operated much as he does today—sneaking, conducting reconnaissance and threatening with death by puppet any boy who so much showed a hint of being interested in his sister. Gaara, by virtue of being, well… _Gaara_, didn't even have to acknowledge the presence of Temari's would-be suitors—not that he cared at all—to strike terror in their hearts. The mere thought of Sabaku no Gaara was more than enough to send most young men running in the opposite direction, and those brave enough—or foolish enough—to stick around got thrown straight to Kankuro. The system worked.

Now, however, the brothers work together and their thoughts tonight, for once, are completely in-sync.

_Nobody told the Nara about the policy concerning suitors._

Kankuro and Gaara are sitting on a rooftop, well out of sight, as they watch the Nara and their sister enter a restaurant together.

"Can we kill him now?" Kankuro hisses, eyes hungry.

Gaara waves a hand. "Wait. We don't know enough yet."

An hour and a half later, they emerge. Shikamaru's got his arm around Temari's shoulders.

Kankuro sucks in his breath; Gaara's eyes narrow ominously.

"Can we kill him _now_?"

"Perhaps."

-0-

Shikamaru is summarily seized and dragged into the nearest dark alley.

-0-

Gaara and Kankuro are sitting on the couch, looking perfectly innocent, when Temari stomps in. She comes to a halt in front of the couch, hands on her hips. "Stop. Interfering. With. My. Love life!" Temari hisses through gritted teeth.

The brothers answer in unison. "_What _love life?"

Temari's eyes narrow, and she unhooks her fan from her obi.


	9. Stand Ins

**Characters**: Baki, Temari, Gaara, Kankuro**  
A/N**: Well, I've broken my final rule; Baki's going to be the POV character for this drabble. But really, it won't work with anyone else.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Baki has always watched them. It's his duty as the jonin commander of Suna to watch the children of his village's ruler, and even if it wasn't he would; if he didn't there was a good chance his old sensei's ghost would come back to haunt him. Karura had been scary enough when she was mad in life, especially when her leg was giving her issues. Baki doesn't want to think of what Karura would be like as a ghost. Especially not a ghost angry at him.

As such, he watches these children, sometimes being annoyed by them but never hating them. Not hating Temari for constantly running away from him at the Chunin Exams when she's supposed to be under his care. Not hating Kankuro for being surly and insubordinate and trying to attack him with little snake-puppets in his early years. Not hating Gaara for… being Gaara.

It's only, however, when he's made their sensei that he starts to notice something in particular.

Temari bullies and bosses Kankuro around and he lets her. If she notices he hasn't been eating enough, he eats. If she makes a point of observing that he hasn't been sleeping enough, he sleeps. The same occurs with Gaara, albeit it much more cautiously and Gaara doesn't always listen to her. The very fact that he acknowledges her presence though, in Baki's eyes, tells him something.

"So you're their mother, as well as their sister and their teammate?" Baki asks skeptically, leaning against a wall beside Temari while Kankuro practices with his puppets and Gaara stalks off to be alone.

She shrugs without looking at him. "Yes. It's not like there's anyone else around to fill that position."

Baki winces, despite himself.

Then, Temari looks up and grins; she grins entirely too much for a young lady, Baki decides, especially a daughter of the Kazekage, but he forebears to tell her that. She's the only one of her siblings who knows how to smile properly. "Besides, since the Kazekage doesn't seem interested in filling that role, aren't you kind of our Dad?"

With that, Temari joins Kankuro, and Baki is left leaning against the wall of the walled-in training ground, watching them with an increasingly dark frown growing over his face.

They look so familiar in the dying sunlight, and if Baki tries he can summon forth different but so, so similar faces for both Temari and Kankuro. He's still trying to work out who Gaara resembles, but considering he seems to be the perpetual outsider he suspects he might resemble Sasori.

Baki hates that Temari's right.

But what he hates even more is that circumstances have forced them both into this position.

Baki never asked to be a stand-in parent.

Then again, Temari never did either.


	10. Justifiably Paranoid

**Characters**: Temari, Sakura, others mentioned**  
A/N**: Let's assume that, some time between the Gaara Retrieval arc and the Five Kage Summit arc, Sakura had occasion to be in Sunagakure.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Temari couldn't deny she was surprising when Sakura inquired in Gaara's health the next time she was in Suna after the "Akatsuki Incident", as the jonin council was choosing to term it. The medic was a Leaf nin, after all; even if she'd helped the treat Gaara, really, it just wasn't proper. However, some part of Temari that wasn't so concerned with propriety couldn't deny that she was gratified to hear the Leaf chunin express concern for her youngest brother.

"Fine, fine." Temari waved a hand through the air languidly and cast her eyes down on the dusty courtyard three storeys below. She and Sakura stood in the shade of a deep alcove in the Suna Academy. Though Temari thought it pleasantly cool where they were standing, Sakura already seemed uncomfortable. There was a sheen of sweat on her forehead and she tugged her collar loose to expose a thin track of flesh and clavicle.

_Amazing, how all the nin from other lands feel the heat so quickly. Especially the Leaf nin._

For a moment, Sakura was content to watch Kankuro's progress with the Academy students; he was filling in for a sick teacher. The childrens' shouts rang up clearly from the courtyard surrounded on all sides by the walls and verandas of the Academy. But once the dust had kicked up to the point that the jonin and the group of children were no longer visible, she jerked her eyes back to Temari. "So Gaara-kun has recovered fully?"

The Sand jonin resisted a curt reply; while she disliked being asked the same thing twice, it wouldn't hurt to be polite to Sakura. "Yes, he has."

Sakura nodded, running a hand through her sweaty hair. Her eyes, already narrowed against the sun, narrowed further. "Temari-san… I heard that Gaara was incapable of sleeping before the Shukaku…" she paused awkwardly "…was _extracted_ from him. Has that persisted?"

If it wasn't a medic asking her this question, Temari would have bristled at the invasion of her brother's privacy and, by extension, her own. As it was, she shrugged. "He still has insomnia, if that's what you mean. He manages to sleep about one night a week or so, but no more than that."

"One night out of seven?" Sakura's tone sharpened considerably. "Is he being medicated for this?"

The dust cleared and Temari turned her head back to watch Kankuro show little six-year-olds how to hold kunai. "No."

"Don't you _think_ he should be?" There was an unmistakably incredulous note in her voice.

That was enough; Sakura was coming too close to implying that Temari was irresponsible for her liking. Her dark green eyes swung back to face the Leaf chunin, adopting a piercing stare. "Watch it, Sakura-san," she said coolly, and the Leaf chunin looked, if not apologetic then at least like one who recognized that she had gone too far.

Temari adjusted the collar of her kimono as to let a bit of wind play over her flesh. "Yes, Kankuro and I _have_ attempted to get Gaara to go on sleep meds. Gaara won't take them, or any other medicine, for that matter."

This revelation had the effect of capturing Sakura's attention in full. "Why not?"

_The answer ought to be simple enough. Then again, this is one who has never had to sleep with one eye open, or twist her head behind her with every step she takes._

The older kunoichi made it a point to look Sakura directly in the eye. Her tone was deceptively light as she entered into her explanation. "It would have a great deal to do with Gaara's situation during his earlier years, I expect. You are aware, I take it, that Gaara faced down regular assassination attempts as a child?"

When Sakura nodded, Temari grimaced half-heartedly. "Thanks to the Shukaku's awareness and the defensive sand, no weapons were ever allowed to pierce Gaara's flesh. Not once was he ever gashed, stabbed, or even bruised by a would-be assassin. The Shukaku protected against all external threats. This protection, however, did not extend to what he put in his mouth."

The pale green eyes across from her lit up in realization, and Temari smirked grimly. "You begin to understand now. When Gaara was seven, he contracted a severe case of food poisoning from eating undercooked pork; it was the closest he had ever come to dying.

"Well, I'm sure you know what that means. If Gaara could get food poisoning, then he could be poisoned as well. All it would have taken would be a bit of cyanide put in his plate and it would have all been over. None of Gaara's would-be assassins ever figured this out, but Gaara did.

"Before your teammate had the grace to beat some common sense and sanity back into him, Gaara wouldn't accept food from anyone at all. He prepared his own meals and brought his own food pills with him on missions. And even after that, he'll still only eat food if he, me and Kankuro or our old sensei has prepared it. He won't touch something if it's been made by someone else."

Sakura plainly didn't know quite what to say to this; she stared at Temari for several seconds. Finally, she found her voice again. "He's very… _paranoid_," she murmured, brow knitting.

Temari shrugged. "He is—was—a jinchuuriki," she replied, as though that explained everything.

And really, it did.


	11. Reinforce

**Characters**: Kankuro, Temari**  
A/N**: I suddenly had this image of Kankuro and Temari sitting somewhere and Gaara screaming off-camera.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"So…" Kankuro is visibly lost for words, licking his dry lips. The veins in his hands are taut, fingers clenched over each other.

Sitting beside him with her back pressed up tight against the wall, Temari nods, the words coming out with difficulty from a clenched jaw. "Yeah."

They flinch again as they did half a minute ago when a rabid howl rips through the Kazekage's compound. From far off there comes a dull boom, sounding very much like something heavy hitting a wall (_Sand is everywhere_, Kankuro thinks). Muffled shouts, high and sharp, follow directly.

All is still for five minutes. Then comes another scream.

Wide-eyed, Kankuro stares at his sister. "What did you say they were doing again?"

Temari shrugs uncomfortably. "Reinforcing the seal. As I understand it has to be done once every ten years or so, or else…" She trails off here, staring down at her half-exposed legs.

Kankuro swallows hard and nods. "Ah… And how much longer is this supposed to last?" he asks gingerly.

"Well, they've been at it for about an hour now, so I'd say… by sundown. They should be done by sundown." Mid afternoon sunlight pours through the windows, carved deep in the walls from midway up nearly to the ceiling.

Another scream rips apart the silence.

"Well I hope they hurry up."

Kankuro knows Temari doesn't like the sound any more than he does, despite everything.


	12. Jackals

**Characters**: Gaara**  
A/N**: I checked, and even though jackals usually group in mating pairs, they will occasionally form small packs.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

They move with the wild grace only an animal who has never known the cruel touch of man can achieve. Sharp howls reach the chilly night air, one jackal signaling to another that there is a witness and that he is dangerous.

To say that these are the only animals Gaara could ever admire would be something of a falsehood. He notes the economy of the snake, the pragmatism of the scorpion, the artistry of the tarantula. The jackal, however, is the only one of these that could be called majestic.

Gaara feels almost at peace when he watches them run.

The pace of one of the jackals starts to flag—it is limping and whimpering audibly, it shadow quivering on the sand. The other jackals do not wait for it. There is no place for weakness in the desert.

An arm of sand reaches forth and crushes the jackal in its grip.

Gaara drinks blood and eats flesh. He moves on bathed and sated.


End file.
